Hand Raising Baby Rabbits - The Unusual Pet Vets · rabbit or another healthy rabbit’s...
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www.unusualpetvets.com.au Hand- Raising Baby Rabbits Hand raising baby rabbits can be quite tricky and demanding, taking up a lot of time. It should never be taken on lightly and there are some points that should be considered before deciding to hand raise. You need to be 100% sure that the mother rabbit isn’t feeding the babies. Unless the mother rabbit is known to be dead, there is a good chance that she is feeding her babies, even if she seems to be ignoring them. A mother rabbit does not constantly tend to her babies the way we might think. Instead they generally feed their babies only once or twice per day, and then leave them alone. This is normal and natural: in the wild, a mother rabbit generally stays as far away from the nest as possible to avoid attracting predators to her babies, only revisiting the nest to feed her young. If you think the mother rabbit is "ignoring" her litter, have a look at the babies. If the babies' tummies are round and full-looking, they are warm, their skin is not wrinkled, and they are sleeping calmly in the nest, then the mother rabbit is likely feeding them. If the babies are wrinkled, cold or have shrunken bellies, then you may have to intervene. Before handling the babies, wash your hands well. This not only removes bacteria but eliminates any smells from other objects or animals that can stress the babies. Once they're clean, rub your hands in a bit of clean, fresh hay and on the mother rabbit's fur to scent your hands. Before starting any syringe or bottle feeding it is worth trying to get the babies to feed. There are a couple of ways to do this including holding the mother over the babies in the nest to give the babies enough time to feed. If she won’t stay there, another option is to hold the mother rabbit on her back in your arms and gently try to put each baby onto a nipple to self-feed. Sometimes it is helpful for the babies if a small amount of milk is expressed from the nipple to entice the baby to suckle. If this is not successful then you may need to start hand raising. It is best to keep the babies in a warm, quiet place in a nest. Bunny fur is the best lining for the nest, but clean cotton wadding will do as a substitute. Just be sure the babies do not get tangled in it. For heating, two or more babies usually are able to snuggle and keep each other warm if they have a good nest. If there's only one baby, a warm water bottle or heat pack wrapped in a soft towel can provide an excellent heat source, but be sure the baby can crawl away if it feels too warm.
Transcript of Hand Raising Baby Rabbits - The Unusual Pet Vets · rabbit or another healthy rabbit’s...
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Hand-RaisingBabyRabbitsHandraisingbabyrabbitscanbequitetrickyanddemanding,takingupalotoftime.Itshouldneverbetakenonlightlyandtherearesomepointsthatshouldbeconsideredbeforedecidingtohandraise.
Youneedtobe100%surethatthemotherrabbit isn’tfeedingthebabies.Unlessthemotherrabbit isknowntobedead,thereisagoodchancethatsheisfeedingherbabies,evenifsheseemstobeignoringthem.Amotherrabbitdoesnotconstantlytendtoherbabiesthewaywemightthink.Insteadtheygenerallyfeedtheirbabiesonlyonceortwiceperday,andthenleavethemalone.Thisisnormalandnatural:inthewild,amotherrabbitgenerallystaysasfarawayfromthenestaspossibletoavoidattractingpredatorstoherbabies,onlyrevisitingthenesttofeedheryoung.
Ifyouthinkthemotherrabbitis"ignoring"herlitter,havealookatthebabies.Ifthebabies'tummiesareroundandfull-looking,theyarewarm,theirskinisnotwrinkled,andtheyaresleepingcalmlyinthenest,thenthemotherrabbitislikelyfeedingthem.Ifthebabiesarewrinkled,coldorhaveshrunkenbellies,thenyoumayhavetointervene.
Beforehandlingthebabies,washyourhandswell.Thisnotonlyremovesbacteriabuteliminatesanysmellsfromotherobjectsoranimals thatcanstress thebabies.Once they'reclean, rubyourhandsinabitofclean,freshhayandonthemotherrabbit'sfurtoscentyourhands.
Beforestartinganysyringeorbottlefeedingitisworthtryingtogetthebabiestofeed.Thereareacoupleofwaystodothisincludingholdingthemotheroverthebabiesinthenesttogivethebabiesenoughtimetofeed.Ifshewon’tstaythere,anotheroptionistoholdthemotherrabbitonherbackinyourarmsandgentlytrytoputeachbabyontoanippletoself-feed.Sometimesitishelpfulforthebabiesifasmallamountofmilkisexpressedfromthenippletoenticethebabytosuckle.Ifthisisnotsuccessfulthenyoumayneedtostarthandraising.
Itisbesttokeepthebabiesinawarm,quietplaceinanest.Bunnyfuristhebestliningforthenest,butcleancottonwaddingwilldoasasubstitute.Justbesurethebabiesdonotgettangledinit.Forheating,twoormorebabiesusuallyareabletosnuggleandkeepeachotherwarmiftheyhaveagoodnest.Ifthere'sonlyonebaby,awarmwaterbottleorheatpackwrappedinasofttowelcanprovideanexcellentheatsource,butbesurethebabycancrawlawayifitfeelstoowarm.
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FormulaandFeedingSupplies:Werecommend theuseoftheWombarooRabbitMilkasitiswellbalancedandcontains
a‘milkoil’equivalentwhichisimportantforbabyrabbits.Itcomesasapowderwhichcanbemixedwithwarmwatertomakeamilkforthebabies.All themixing instructions are on the box.WombarooRabbitMilk can bepurchasedfromTheUnusualPetVetsotherwisesomeveterinaryclinicsandlargerpetshopswillstockit.
Youwill also need some small plastic syringes for feeding themilk to thebabies.TheseareavailablefromtheUnusualPetVets,aswellassomepharmacies.
Youcanalsopurchasesmallplasticfeedingbottlesandplasticteatsfromsomelargepetshopshoweveryouwillneedtobuythesmallestteatpossibleasusuallythepuppyandkittenonesaretoobig.Mostbabyrabbitswillfeedfromasyringewithoutaproblem.
Youwillalsoneedsomesmallscalestoweighthebabyrabbits.Theamountofmilktofeedisdependentonthebaby’sweight.OntheWombarooRabbitMilkboxthereisaweightchartandthenumberofmlsofmilktobefedover24hours.Dependingonhowmuchthebabyrabbitwilltakeinonefeedingsessionwilldependonhowfrequentlyyouhavethefeedthem.
FeedingProcedure:Whenfeedingitisimportanttotakecaretopreventaspiration(inhalation)oftheformulabythebabies.Thesmallestdropofformulainthelungscancausefatalpneumoniawithinafewhours.Thefollowinginstructionsprovideastep-by-stepfeedingguide:
1.Makesureallyoursyringesandbottleshavebeenwashedbeforeuse.
2.Babyrabbitscanbewigglyandunpredictablesopleasetakecaretoensuretheyarefedinasafeplacewheretheycannotfall.
3.Holdthebabyupright (or insomecasesontheirbackgently) inonehand,andthebottle/syringeintheother.
4.Babiesoftenresistfeedingatfirst,andyoumustovercomethetemptationtoforcefeed.Ifthebabywon’taccepttheteatorsyringe,thensimplywetthebaby'slipswithadropofwarmformulasotheywillhopefullylickitoff.Oncetheyhaveswallowedthat,repeattheprocedureoverandover.Bepersistentandgentle.Inmostcasesthebabywillsoonlearnaboutfeedingtimeandtaketheformulawillinglythoughtheymaynotdothisonthefirstfeeding.
5.Donotbetooforcefulandsqueezetoomuchformulaintothebabyrabbit’smouth.Theycanaspiratemilkquiteeasilysoonlydriptheformulaslowlyforthebabytolickup.
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6. Ifthebabygrabstheteatandbeginssuckling,allowthemtodosowithoutadding any pressure yourself. The baby should be able to sucklewith enough
strengthtoemptythebottleorsyringewithoutanyhelpfromyou.Ifyouprovideextraforce,thebabymayaccidentallyaspirateformulathat'scomingintoofast.
7. If the baby does not suckle, it's generally not amajorproblem.Mostwilllearntolap/sipfromthetipoftheteat,andthisisactuallysaferinmanycasesasitdoesreducetheriskofaspiration.Trytoholdtheteat/syringe tip sideways or down-pointed (so theplungerislowerthanthetip),relativetothemouth,tofurtherreducetheriskofaspiration.
8.Until theyopen theireyes,handle thebabiesaslittleaspossiblewhenyou'renotfeeding.
NOTE: Many newborn mammals cannot urinate/defecate on their own. Many babybunnieswillrequirethestimulationofthemother'sgroomingtongueontheirbelliesandgenitalregioninordertoreleaseastreamofurineandfaeces.Ifyouarehandraisingthenyouwillneedtotrytomimicthisbehaviour.Todothisuseacottonballmoistenedwithwarmwater,andgentlytap/rubtheurogenitalareauntilyoufeelthebaby'sabdominalmusclestenseandtheyreleaseastreamofurineorpassfaeces.Gettingthisresponsemaytake15-20secondsofstimulation,orevenmoreinsomecases.
Babyrabbits'eyesopenatabout10daysofage.Oncethisoccursyoucanstartgraduallyintroducing them to timothy and oaten hay, chaff, pellets, small amounts of greenvegetablesandwaterinashallowdish.
By2–4weeksofagenormallybabyrabbitswillstarteatingtheirmotherscaecotrophstokeeptheirgastrointestinaltractfullofgoodbacteria.Ifyouhaveaccesstothemotherrabbitoranotherhealthyrabbit’scaecotrophs–mixthemwithsomeoftheformulaorsomewarmwaterandsyringefeedthistothebabies.Itsgoodtorepeatthis2or3timesover2–3weekstohelpthemestablishnormalgastrointestinalflora.
Weaning:Amother rabbit feeds her babies for about 3 - 6weeks, gradually decreasing thefrequencyoffeedingsuntiltheyloseinterest.Yourbabybunnieswillstarttonibblesolidfoodatabouttheageoftwotothreeweeks,butthisdoesnotmeantheyarereadytobeweaned.
If thebabies stillbeg fornursingby theageof six -eightweeks, youcanbegin todilute theformulawithcleandrinkingwater tohelp theweaningprocess.Startwith25%water to75%formula,andgraduallydecreasethepercentageofmilkuntilthebabiesloseinterest.
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Babyrabbitscanthenberehomedtonewfamiliesby8weeksofage,aslongasfullyweanedandeatingsolidswellontheirown.
BabyrabbitsshouldthenbevaccinatedagainstCaliciViruswhentheyare8weeksold,thenaboosterisrequired4weekslater,andthenbi-annuallyfromthenon.
Rabbits can generally be sterilised from12weeks of age formales and 16weeks of age forfemales.Maleandfemalebabyrabbitsshouldbeseparatedfromeachotherby10–12weeksofagetopreventanyearlypregnancies.
Ifyouhaveanyfurtherquestionspleasedon’thesitatetogetintouchwithus.
